Public sector banks' ATM move 'has not hit SBI's plans'

The move to set up ATMs through a consortium of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country has not hampered the ATM-related activities of State Bank of India, according a top executive.

The move follows a directive by the Government in this regard.

In an informal chat with Business Line on the sidelines of a CSR (corporate social responsibility) programme of the bank here on Thursday, Mr A. Krishna Kumar, Managing Director and Group Executive (National Banking) of SBI, said that the process of putting ATMs through consortium of PSBs has not hampered its plans related to ATMs.

Stating that the bank has nearly 26,000 ATMs in the country, he said: “We need more ATMs there is no doubt about that. Our number of debit cards is very strong. We have more than 10 crore debit cards. It is not that the current process has hampered us in anyway in our efforts to supply ATM cards and debit cards to our customers.”

Before the decision was taken at the ministry level to consolidate the ATM requirements of the entire PSBs, SBI had thought of installing around 10,000 ATMs during the current fiscal. “Because of this development, our progress has not been there in this front,” he said.

The ultimate objective of this method is to reduce the cost, and to have a standardised format of ATMs, he said.

Asked about the progress in the procurement of ATMs through consortium mode, Mr Krishna Kumar said that it is at the RFP (request for proposal) stage.

“I think some time is given to the ATM manufacturers and suppliers to respond to the RFP and to the tender. May be in a couple of months all things would be completed,” he added.

vinayakaj@thehindu.co.in